The present invention relates to an improved bubble wash unit, and more particularly relates to improvement in the a bubble wash unit in which numerous fine bubbles are generated in water bath filled in a bowl-shaped wash basin.
Bubble wash basins have recently been used widely for cosmetic and/or sanitary purposes on human skins. In a typical construction of a bubble wash basin, compressed air generated by a compressor is supplied to a bubble disc placed on the inside bottom of a bowl-shaped wash basin full of water and divided into numerous fine air voids by passage through the bubble disc. The air voids float upwards in the water bath as fine bubbles which in turn hit the face of the user placed in the water bath, thereby giving moderate impulses to the face skin.
In order to provide the above-described function, the bubble wash unit usually includes a wash basin for containing the water bath and a stand assembly for accommodating the compressor. In order to minimize the space to be occupied by the bubble wash unit and/or needed for storing same, the wash basin is usually mounted atop the stand unit.
The compressor is provided with an electric system which is less durable against wetting on one hand. On the other hand, the wash basin located on the stand assembly has to contain the water bath. In addition, it is necessary in practical use of the bubble wash unit to fill or drain water into or out of the wash basin very often. Further, water may splash out of the wash basin during use of the bubble wash unit. Especially when the bubble wash unit is used for commercial purposes at, e.g. beauty salons, these conditions will be more critical.
Filling, draining and splash of water tend to subject the compressor to wetting problems. Further, the relatively heavy mass of the compressor makes it very inconvenient to transport the bubble wash unit from place to place. Since the bubble wash unit is used for washing faces also, the inside surface of the wash basin is very stained with fatty dirts washed off the faces. Cleaning of such stained wash basins is also accomplished by the above-described wetting and handling problems. Further, the bubble wash unit has a construction in which the wash basin with the water bath is mounted atop the stand assembly containing the compressor and the bubbles are discharged into the water bath at the inside bottom of the wash basin. Due to this construction, any hole must conventionally be formed through the bottom of the wash basin in order to pneumatically couple the interior of the wash basin to the compressor placed under the wash basin. Presence of such a hole also gives rise to water leakage into the stand assembly which may give the wetting problem to the compressor.
A wide variety of bubble wash units have been conventionally proposed on the market. However, none of them was able to solve the above-described troubles totally although some of them were solved by conventional proposals.
A bubble disc is used for reforming compressed air into five bubbles and is provided with a mesh layer for that effect. Since the bubble disc is placed on the inside bottom of the wash basin full of water containing fatty dirts, it is necessary to clean the mesh layer often in order to avoid clogging of same. In addition, since the mesh layer is subjected to high pressure of the compressed air, it easily gets blemished due to repeated tension and this necessitates frequent replacement of the worn-out mesh layer. For such cleaning and replacement purposes, it is strongly required that the bubble disc per se can easily be disassembled and re-assembled even by unskilled users.
In the construction of the bubble wash unit of the above-described type, a compressor is used for generation of compressed air which is to be reformed into fine bubbles. The compressor includes a piston chamber and a piston which axially reciprocates within the piston chamber due to combined operation of electro-magnetic attraction and spring repulsion. This piston reciprocation naturally causes vibration of the compressor and its related parts of the bubble wash unit. Since bubble wash units are used at private homes or at commercial spots such as beauty salons, such vibration is quite unwelcome in general.
Although various proposals have been made in order to damp such vibration of compressors, it has been conventionally impossible to provide sufficient prevention of the vibration while retaining compactness in construction, reduced power consumption and easy assembly.